Rivers illuminates Florida slaves' resistance

11:40 PM,
Oct. 27, 2012

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It's understandable it took Larry Rivers 12 years to write a followup to his seminal "Slavery in Florida," published in 2000. The former Florida A&M professor and dean has been busy since 2006 as president of Fort Valley State (Ga.) University, his alma mater.

But his sequel book figures to be an equally important addition to the canon on slavery. For in "Rebels and Runaways: Slaves Resistance in 19th Century Florida," Rivers shines a bright light on the obvious question about slavery to a modern audience: How did Florida slaves put up with the institution?